


Of Many Colors

by AverageFiction



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drama, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Past Violence, Protectiveness, Running Away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-05-17 21:53:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5886691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AverageFiction/pseuds/AverageFiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A meeting occurs by chance when Yang Xiao Long makes a late night trip to the store, only to discover a partially pink-haired girl freezing in the snow - abandoned and alone. When Yang offers to take the girl home with her and let her stay for a while, the silent stranger is touched by the unusual amount of kindness being shown to her; something she's not used to receiving. The only hope that the girl has is that the secrets which haunt her past don't wind up following her here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

            Yang Xiao Long sat lounging on the couch with her legs outstretched and her elbow resting on the arm of the furniture to help prop up her head; lilac eyes affixed to the television screen and enjoying the professional wrestling bout that she had turned on a little while earlier. Her choice in viewing had succeeded in driving the rest of her housemates to the safety of their own rooms; with Blake quietly reading in the alcove of the upstairs hallway while Weiss had decided to turn in for bed early after an arduous day of classes. To Yang’s knowledge, her younger sister Ruby had been upstairs in the bedroom that they shared playing video games, but it sounded like she was taking at least a temporary break from that as the blonde-haired girl could hear the tumbling of footsteps coming down the stairs at a speed that could only possibly belong to her baby sis.

            The four young ladies were all students attending the prestigious Beacon University, and they had the luxury of being able to rent their own house just off-campus rather than having to resign themselves to dormitory life. Most of the credit for this could go to Weiss, who was the one to come up with the idea in the first place and was able to put up the largest share of the lien required to rent out the domicile that was modest but still enough for all four girls to be able to live in comfortably. Yang often mused on how nice it was to be such good friends with the daughter of one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in all of Remnant. All of them were in their junior year except for Ruby, who had only just begun her freshman year of college but had already become friends with Weiss and Blake due to how often she’d visit her older sister at school; the campus being rather close to where the two sisters lived with their father in between semesters and during the summer.

            “Yaaaaannnngggg!” Ruby exclaimed as she suddenly appeared from around the corner wearing her pajamas and a toothy grin, catching her big sister slightly off guard from the rather abrupt nature of her arrival; indicated by the way she flinched when hearing her name get called.

            “What is it Rubes?” Yang asked before suddenly remembering the time. “Oh and keep it down! Blake is trying to read and Weiss is trying to sleep, and honestly I don’t know which one would be more pissed at us for interrupting.”

            “Oh! Sorry!” Ruby’s tone was now more hushed, and she cast a quick glance back over her shoulder just to make sure that neither of their other two housemates were on their way down to scold her for being too noisy.

            “So what did you need?”

            “Well…I kinda couldn’t help but notice that we’re all out of hot chocolate. So I was thinking that maybe you could, you know…go out and get some?” Ruby asked in a tone of voice too innocent sounding for Yang to buy; her facial expression reflecting that as she narrowed her eyes at her younger sister as if to tell her that she already knew what the answer to this question was going to be. “Oh please Yang?? Pretty, pretty please? It would be the perfect thing to have on a night like this and I’m really craving it right now!”

            Of course it was the perfect night to have hot chocolate, which was all the more reason that Yang detested the idea of going out to purchase some. It was just past ten o’clock and there was a light snowfall taking place that had been going on since this morning. Cold weather was one of Yang’s natural enemies, having hated it since she was a child while Ruby on the other hand could barely contain herself with excitement whenever there was enough snow on the ground to go out and play in. This happened to be just as true of the smaller, dark-haired girl now that she was a college student as it was when she was in kindergarten.

            “If you want it so bad then why don’t you go out and get it? The store is only right down the block and you’ve got a car. Besides, I’m trying to watch a match here!” Yang retorted, suggesting instead that Ruby go out and pick up the hot chocolate herself. Truthfully, she rarely ever minded running simple errands for her sister like this when she asked her to, but the combination of the snowy weather along with her very important television appointment was enough to make this one of the few times when she was resistant.

            “I’ll record it for you! Pleeeaaaaase?? You know I don’t like to drive at night, and it’ll only take you like ten minutes tops! I’ll even pay you back for the hot chocolate!” Ruby only continued to plead in the hope that she could convince her wonderful big sister to make this late night run to the convenience store for her so that she could quench her thirst for the toasty beverage.

            When she saw that Yang still appeared stalwart, the diminutive girl was left with no other choice but to resort to desperate tactics.

            “Yang…”

            “Ruby, you can wait until tomorrow to get—“ Yang started, but when she turned her attention back to where her younger sibling was standing, she had to stop herself short and let out a sigh of defeat. She had never been a match for those puppy dog eyes, and she couldn’t bear to look into those adorably pitiful pools of silver and still say the word “no” to the person they belonged to. “Alright, alright, I surrender! You can put away the weapon now; I’ll go and get you your hot chocolate.” The buxom blonde relented as she threw her arms up and stood from off the couch.

            “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!!” Ruby squeaked with delight as she zipped across the living room and threw her arms around her sister in a tight embrace. “Have I ever told you that you’re the best big sis of all time?”

            “Maybe, but it couldn’t hurt to mention it a bit more often.” She ruffled Ruby’s shoulder-length hair and flashed her a teasing smirk before heading over to the nearby coat rack and grabbing her preferred winter jacket from off one of the hooks; slipping into the heavy, silver-colored garment in order to protect herself from the elements outdoors which she harbored no love for. Yang honestly had no clue how Weiss could stand living in a place as frigid as Atlas for so much of her life.

            “Alright, just remember that if I’m not back in fifteen minutes, then it means I probably froze to death and you’re just going to have to live the rest of your life doing all the things I never got the chance to do in order to honor my legacy” Yang joked as she slipped her feet into a pair of snow boots that she kept by the front door, sharing a chuckle with her baby sister who looked back at her and playfully replied.

            “Yang, you might want to make sure you have some other people on standby to carry out your plans, because I don’t think there will ever be a day where I’m ready to go streaking during the middle of the Vytal Festival.”

            “I wouldn’t want my sweet, innocent, baby sister doing something like that anyway! I guess I’ll just have to call up Nora and hand that one over to her then.” Yang smirked as Ruby giggled again; the idea of their much more capricious friend running naked through the streets packed with festivalgoers sounding much more realistic.

            “Just hurry up and get back here so you can do it yourself!” Ruby instructed, to which Yang gave a mock salute before bidding her sister goodbye and walking out the front door into the unforgivingly freezing night. Well, it wasn’t really that cataclysmic. The temperature was hovering around twenty degrees Fahrenheit, and there was a light breeze which added to the nippiness of the atmosphere, but what was just certainly unpleasant to most was more or less the cold and clammy embrace of death to Yang. She was born for summer, not this cruel mistress they called a season.

            Crossing her arms across her ample chest to try to keep as warm as possible, she jogged from the front door to the driveway where her Jeep was parked so that she could hop inside. During the winter months, as much as it pained her to do so, she kept her beloved motorcycle in the garage at her father’s house since they didn’t have one here and she’d rather keep it from sitting out in the snow on occasions like this. She found it odd that their rented house was designed to have a driveway without a garage, but she chalked it up the way all the houses in this particular neighborhood were situated rather close together to maximize the use of space.

            Her dad’s old Jeep was still more than reliable enough to see her through however, and she started it up with no desire to stay out any longer than was absolutely necessary. She was going to drive down the block to the store, grab the hot chocolate for Ruby, and if she was lucky she’d get back before the match she was watching had even ended.

 

* * *

 

 

             The small, electronic chime sounded again as the automatic doors slid back open, and Yang bristled upon stepping through them and back out into the sharp coldness that now surrounded her. In her hand was a plastic bag containing the hot chocolate mix that she had just purchased from the mini-mart, and the tall blonde was more than ready to get into her car and get back home so that she could be out of this intolerable weather.

            But as she jammed a hand into her pants pocket to fish out her keys, she had to adjust her grip upon the handles of the bag, which caused it to become lopsided thanks to the weight of the cylindrical tin full of easy-to-make hot chocolate that Yang had gone out of her way to retrieve for her little sister’s enjoyment. She had already decided to be generous though and not charge Ruby for the whopping five lien that she had to pay for it with out of her own wallet. Before Yang could correct the imbalance of weight, she heard a soft clang as the aluminum container fell right out of the bag and landed on the asphalt of the parking lot, and she cast her gaze downward just in time to see it start rolling along the ground.

            “Oh no you don’t.” A slight smirk appeared on her lips as she realized she was scolding an inanimate object. Regardless, she started gaining ground on the runaway beverage mix until she planted one of her feet smack dab upon a small patch of ice; her traction disappearing completely and causing said foot to glide forward and kick the can with enough velocity to send it zooming the remainder of the way across the parking lot.

            “Hey! Get back here!”

            It was too damn cold out for Yang’s liking to be getting outwitted by a tin of hot chocolate that wasn’t even really hot chocolate yet. She gritted her teeth with annoyance as she stomped – this time being much more cautious of any icy obstacles –  towards the object of her ire that had finally come to a stop and nestled itself in a mound of snow that was just adjacent to the parking lot. The heat-craving blonde was growing more impatient by the second as she bent over to pick it back up, but as she stood back upright something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

            Turning to pinpoint exactly what it was, her gaze fell upon the alleyway separating the convenience store from a hardware shop that was closed for the night. It was only there for a fleeting second, but there was no mistaking the flash of color in the moonlit darkness that she saw in the narrow passage. From Yang’s perspective, it had looked like whatever she had gotten a glimpse of had disappeared into a large box situated near a dumpster, and what confused her even more was that she could have sworn that the color she had seen was a bright pink.

            Yang took a couple of seconds to glance over her surroundings, uncertain of how to proceed. She could simply return to the parking lot, get back into her Jeep, and drive home to snuggle back up on the couch to watch the remainder of her wrestling program, but something was nagging at her to go investigate whatever she had briefly seen in the alley. Tentatively, she started stepping forward towards the opening of the split between the two shops, white snow crunching softly under the soles of her boots to provide the only sound other than the occasional car passing by on the road. This was either going to be the dumbest thing she’d ever done, or…well truthfully, she wasn’t really sure what positives could be gained from this, but she maintained her approach nevertheless.

            “Hello? Uhh…is someone there?”

            No reply came, and Yang hugged her arms against her chest both to ward off the cold and to try to steady her nerves from how uneasy this was starting to make her. Anyone who knew her would testify – under oath no less – that Yang Xiao Long was not the type to falter easily, but there was something undeniably creepy about this whole situation. She could remember plenty of scary stories that she had heard about beautiful, young women disappearing in the night that would begin just like this, and this particularly shapely maiden had no intention of imitating such fiction tonight.

            “Look! I know you’re in there! So you have until the count of three to show yourself or I’m calling the police! One!...Two!....”

            Yang set her jaw and clenched her fists as she bellowed out what she hoped sounded like an intimidating threat to call out from hiding whomever it was that she believed to be hiding in that alley. If nobody came out then she wasn’t entirely sure what she would do then, but fortunately she didn’t have to figure that out; her mysterious lurker did Yang the courtesy of revealing herself.

            The tall, golden-haired girl wasn’t really sure what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this. Her lilac-colored eyes lost their sternness and were at once replaced with sympathy as she watched a small frame crawl out from the cardboard box that looked about big enough to be for a refrigerator; a positively bantam-sized girl in ragged clothes and a fearful expression on her dirt-caked face. Yang also located the source of the color she had seen which tipped her off to begin with; the entire right half of the girl’s hair being a prominent, light pink hue.

            “Oh my gosh…are you okay??” Yang asked after taking stock of the poor girl’s state, the question hardly even requiring an answer as it didn’t take a genius to deduce that clearly this girl was anything but okay. She started walking towards the much, much shorter girl, but it only took two steps from Yang before the apparently skittish vagabond quickly backpedaled to keep space between the two of them. Yang couldn’t help but notice how much fear seemed to be emanating from the girls’ eyes that were almost entirely a milky white save for her large pupils. What in Remnant had she gone through to wind up here?

            “Hey…you don’t have to be afraid of me. Umm, my name is Yang. Yang Xiao Long. I want to help you, if I can.” She said in the hopes that it might calm the other girl down some and make her aware that she isn’t a threat. Yang couldn’t declare it to have smashing results, but if nothing else the pint-sized stranger ceased retreating and allowed her to close some of the distance between them. “Do you…have someone I can call for you? Is there anyone you know around here that can come get you?” Yang asked, hopeful but not quite expecting there to be a positive answer to her inquiry. Her assumption was proven correct when the partially pink-haired girl shook her head to indicate “no.”

            “Alright, well…I mean, I’m sorry to ask like this, but…are you homeless?” The visibly forlorn facial reaction that she got in response was enough for Yang to glean the answer again. She glanced to the side at the refrigerator box that the girl had crawled out from. Surely she couldn’t have been planning on spending the whole night there in this weather. “Umm…do you want me to call the police? They can probably find you a warm place to stay for the night.” Yang’s offer was almost immediately met with a horrified expression from the homeless girl who frantically shook her head once more. Honestly, Yang couldn’t blame her either. She’d read news reports – or perhaps overheard Blake talking about news reports – about investigations which found that one of the biggest victims of police abuse were the homeless, who often had little to no means of recourse and thus were easy targets. If this girl had been through abuse already of some sort, as Yang somewhat suspected, then of course the idea of police custody would be a non-starter.

            “Okay, no police. I understand.” This was getting tougher and tougher for Yang to figure out what to do. This girl had nobody in the area, possibly even the entire city, who she wanted to come and get her; and she seemed to have a deep fear of being handed over to police for them to mistreat her due to how vulnerable she was. Hell, she hadn’t even spoken a single word to her this whole time. She didn’t know this girl’s name, but one thing that Yang at least did know, that she was certain of, was that she could not in all good conscience abandon this girl. And so she made a decision.

            “I know this might sound strange, but if you have nowhere else to stay besides…well, this box…I could take you back to my house and you could stay there for tonight. It’s only right up the block too, so it’d be a short drive and all that…if you want to go.” Yang nervously proposed as she rubbed the back of her head through her wild mane of bright sunshine, thinking about how her housemates might react to this and hoping that she wasn’t making a huge mistake. She couldn’t tell if it was necessarily a good thing that the silent girl’s expression had turned to one of surprise, and notably one of her eyes had become a creamy brown color now.

            A few more seconds passed between them and just the sound of the wind lightly blowing felt deafening to Yang as she curled up into her winter jacket again to keep warm, immediately feeling guilty for doing so as the much smaller girl had no such jacket and visibly shivered from the chill. It was a pitiful enough sight that it compelled Yang to remove her jacket and ignore the shouts of her heat-deprived body so that she could extend her arm out and offer the protection from the elements to the homeless girl who again seemed surprised by this offer.

            “Take it. It doesn’t mean you have to come with me, but you could use it more than I could right now.” Yang told her with a soft smile before the girl took the coat from her hand, giving a nod of gratitude as she slipped the insulated garment on herself. Yang felt a little bit bad for what she did next, but the taller and more full-figured blonde couldn’t help but laugh just a little at how big her jacket was on the other girl’s much smaller frame; it looking like a young child had decided to play dress-up with some of the clothes from mommy’s closet.

            “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. I just didn’t really think about the fit before I gave it to you.” Yang tried to explain in the hope that the girl would understand, and the reply she got was an indignant pout that was soon replaced by a small smile as she blinked and now possessed one brown eye and one pink. The wind breezed through the alleyway again, and this time it was Yang’s turn to shudder without layers to cover up with, which prompted the quiet new wearer of the jacket to start walking towards the one who had just given it to her, nodding her head again to let Yang know that she was amenable to the idea of returning with the kindhearted blonde to her home for the night.

            “Really? That’s great! Come on; let’s get the hell out of here then. When we get there I’ll even make you some hot chocolate!” Yang said cheerfully as she held up the container of beverage mix that she still had in her hand while the oddly matched pair of girls made their way towards the yellow Jeep that awaited them in the parking lot. Only a few seconds later was the engine starting up and were seatbelts being clicked into place as Yang was more than ready to get back home after such an unexpectedly eventful trip out to the store. She still had one more question though that she was hoping to get an answer to.

            “By the way, I never got your name or anything. What would you like me to call you?”

            The girl paused and her eyes looked around the interior of the vehicle for something she could use, not long before glinting a bit as they landed upon the window of the passenger’s side door. She let out a deep breath upon the glass to create a splotch of fog that she then took a tiny finger to in order to squiggle out a written response.

            “Neo.”


	2. Acclimation

            The old but reliable yellow Jeep that used to be her father’s slowed to a stop as Yang pulled it into the driveway, parking it right alongside the sleek, silver luxury sedan which of course belonged to Weiss. The engine puttered out as she turned the key and removed it from its slot in the ignition, leaving things just as silent as the passenger that the vivacious blonde had unexpectedly acquired during her brief excursion to the store just down the block.

            “Okay, I’m guessing that by now Blake is probably in bed too, so the only other person you’ll probably have to meet tonight is Ruby.” Yang told Neo as she turned to look at the small, almost frail looking girl who was seated beside her, noticing the look of hesitancy that her expression took on at the prospect of having to get acquainted with yet another person tonight. “Hey don’t sweat it! Ruby is like, the awesomest little sister in the world. Trust me, she’ll like you. If you’re lucky she might even bake you some cookies!” She added to try to improve Neo’s spirits, and it seemed to do the trick as the girl with the multicolored mane softly grinned at her new friend’s reassurance.

            With that, Yang exited from the vehicle and Neo followed right after her, both of them shutting the doors behind them near simultaneously and proceeding to make their way towards the front door of the cozy suburban house. Neo made sure to stay a step behind the much taller resident of the home though as they approached the porch, intending to use Yang’s body as a makeshift shield to keep herself hidden behind to hopefully make everything less intimidating. This didn’t go unnoticed by Yang, but she said nothing to Neo about it since she was fairly confident that she’d reach the same level of comfort with Ruby that had already been established between the two of them in no time. Her little sister might not possess an abundance of social grace, but she was as a sweet as could be and Yang knew that she would sympathize with Neo’s plight just as strongly as she had.

            Shimmying her keyring around until she found the one for the front door, Yang inserted it, twisted it, and felt the tumblers click into place before pushing the now unlocked door open so that the two of them could venture indoors together. Under different circumstances, she might have asked Neo to wait outside for a moment so that she could explain the situation to Ruby first, but considering the weather she figured that the miniature-sized girl was probably just as eager to get inside as she was – even while wearing the coat that Yang had given to her.

            As Yang had expected, she spotted her younger sister almost immediately. Ruby had taken up residence in the same spot on the couch that Yang herself had been occupying earlier, and the dark-haired girl lit up with delight upon seeing that her sibling was back home and had brought back with her the hot chocolate that she had been so desperately craving.

            “Yang!! You’re finally back! What took you so--…” Ruby’s enthusiastic reaction quickly morphed into one of great confusion as she realized that her big sis hadn’t returned alone, her silver eyes landing upon the tiny, unfamiliar figure whom she only got a good look at for a fleeting moment before Neo retreated fully to put Yang in between herself and Ruby; only barely peeking her head out to make eye contact with the pajama-clad girl who was now sitting up at attention on the couch. “Ummm…Yang?” Ruby probed as she shifted her gaze to her sister, looking for answers to the various questions that were now swirling around in her head from this unanticipated turn of events.

            “Ruby, I’d like to introduce you to my new friend, Neo. I met her while I was at the store and I invited her over for the night. Hope you don’t mind.” Yang at least partially explained as she smiled back and forth between the two other young ladies in the living room with her. The manner in which Ruby’s brow furrowed and her eyebrows arched indicated that she was not yet satisfied with Yang’s clarification of things, but if her sister was willing to vouch for this girl then she was going to trust her judgment.

            “Well, of course I don’t mind! Any friend of my big sis is a friend of mine! It’s nice to meet you Neo.” Ruby replied with a bright and genuine smile of her own sent in the direction of the girl who was timidly stepping back out from behind the cover of Yang’s tall and curvaceous frame. She didn’t get a verbal response from her, but Ruby settled for a nod of acknowledgment from Neo’s multicolored head as she also noticed that Neo was draped in Yang’s silver jacket for some reason. She hoped she would be getting more information rather soon as to how exactly her older sister had met this strange girl.

            “Neo, how about you go upstairs and take a nice hot shower? I’ll bring you some clothes that you can change into once you’re finished, and then if you want I can fix you up something to eat if you’d like.” Every part of this proposal from Yang sounded like heaven to Neo’s ears as the silent houseguest of hers smiled with appreciation and keenly nodded, her reaction being enough to make Yang’s smile brighten as well. She hadn’t a clue when the last time was that Neo had bathed or worn clean clothes, but the marks of dirt on her face and the unkempt condition of her current attire told Yang that some basic hygienic upkeep was long overdue. “Great! If you go upstairs, the bathroom is going to be the first door on your right. I’ll be in in a few minutes with a change of clothes.”

            Neo nodded once more with immense gratitude as she removed Yang’s coat from her petite figure and returned it to the blonde who dwarfed her in height before embarking on her trek to the second-floor bathroom. Both Ruby and Yang waited until they could no longer hear Neo’s soft set of footsteps climbing up the stairs before resuming their own conversation, of which there was no doubt she would be the topic of much discussion.

            “Soooo…you wanna tell me what happened?” Ruby asked with expectant eyes that peered up into Yang’s lilac ones, able to put some of the pieces together on her own just from what she had observed but wanting to hear the full story straight from the source to fill in any gaps there might be.

            “I was walking out of the store when I found her. She was in that alley between it and the hardware shop, and I’m pretty sure that she was planning on spending the night inside of a refrigerator box next to a dumpster.” Yang let out a sigh at simply recalling the living conditions – if you could even call them that – that she found Neo dealing with as Ruby nodded with understanding and continued to listen. “I asked her if there was anyone I could call to come get her, or anything like that, but she told me there wasn’t. I know that I should have called and asked you guys first…but there was no way I could just leave her there Rubes. You understand, right?”

            The corners of the smaller girl’s mouth turned upwards back into a small grin at being asked that.

            “Of course I understand. Yang, you did the right thing. If you had just left her out there, who knows if she would have even survived? We can explain everything to Blake and Weiss in the morning, but I’m sure they’ll agree too!” Her little sister’s reassuring words helped take a great weight off of Yang’s ample chest. Yang knew that she had made the right decision by offering to take Neo in for the time being, but she also knew that doing so would probably inconvenience the rest of her housemates in some capacity, and that they’d also probably be upset with her for making a decision that affects all of them without consulting anyone else first. Hearing Ruby agree with her that she made the right call without being mad about it was therefore very therapeutic to her nerves.

            “Thanks Ruby, I knew I’d be able to count on you. Now, how about I whip us up a few toasty mugs before I grab some clothes for Neo?” Yang held up the plastic bag she was still carrying in her hand with the tin of hot chocolate mixture residing within it, prompting both girls to smile like goofballs in agreement.

 

* * *

 

 

            A pair of piercing blue eyes fluttered open in the darkness of a room only faintly illuminated at all by the moonlight wafting in through the windows. The owner of these eyes had been enjoying a peaceful slumber, but something had disturbed her from her dormant state. She picked her head up by about an inch off of the pillow it had been resting upon, attempting to adjust her vision to the shadows and identify whatever or whoever the culprit was. Suddenly she took notice of a continuous sound, honing in on it and tracing the source to one of the rooms adjacent to the bedroom that the annoyed, awoken girl was currently within. In her still drowsy state, it took her a few seconds to figure out what it was that she was hearing, but then it clicked in her head; somebody had the gall to be taking a shower this late at night while others were trying to sleep.

            And Weiss Schnee did _not_ appreciate having her beauty sleep interrupted.

            Growling softly through gritted teeth, the white-haired menace of the night still took care as she got herself out of bed not to awaken her still sleeping roommate; though as she looked over towards the other twin bed in the room, she silently cursed Blake’s ability to be such a heavy sleeper. Weiss used her hands to smooth out the crinkles that had formed in her slinky, silver nightgown, wanting to look presentable while she was chewing out whichever one of her other housemates who had made such a foolish choice.

            It’s not as if Weiss had expected to be anyone other than one of the two half-sisters, knowing that Blake had far too much sense to be so inconsiderate when it was well known just how preciously the Atlesian girl valued her sleep. If she was being honest, she was hoping that it would be Ruby in the shower as it would likely be much easier to resolve things with her than it would if it were Yang currently making use of it. Ruby could have moments of obliviousness, but was always very apologetic if she was informed that she had accidentally inconvenienced someone else. Yang on the other hand would be far more likely to just shrug it off, and then probably make some kind of wisecrack about their relative bust sizes. It was enough to make Weiss preemptively pull up on her satin nightie to make sure her demure chest was properly covered as she exited her bedroom and emerged out into the second-floor hallway.

 

* * *

 

 

            The feeling of hot water streaming down all over Neo’s bare, exhausted body as she stood there in the shower was tantamount to pure bliss for the homeless runaway. It had been weeks since she’d been able to enjoy such a simple luxury, and refamiliarizing herself with it only made her appreciate the sensation so much more. She would be more than content to simply lean up against the tiled wall of the shower just like she currently was doing, and stay that way until the water that was dousing her began to drop in temperature.

            Slowly, she turned and pulled her hair around so that it was draped over her shoulder, thus leaving her back completely exposed and able to fully receive the soothing downpour emanating from the metallic head mounted into the wall and angled down towards her. Almost subconsciously, one of her hands placed itself upon the small of her back and drifted upwards as if conducting an examination. Neo let out a small squeak of discomfort when her fingers lightly pressed down upon the spot that she was hoping would have cleared up by now.

            If she wanted to visualize what the bruise on her back looked like, all she had to do was glance down at the matching twin that was present on her left side, just below her rib cage. Her otherwise soft and pale skin was discolored to an unsightly brownish-yellow where the marking was present, though she supposed this was at least better than the deep blue and purple shades it would bear when it was much more freshly inflicted. This one, and the one on her back, were ones that she had received on the same night.

            Two nights before she finally ran.

            Neo was abruptly broken from her reverie by the sound of the bathroom door opening, causing the poor girl to jump with a bit of a startle. It subsided just as quickly as it came however when she remembered that Yang said she would be dropping in during her shower to deliver some fresh clothes for the silent waif to change into once she was finished cleaning herself up. Neo found herself slightly smiling again at the reminder of the consideration and generosity that the affable blonde was showing to her, along with her younger sister.

            “Just what in Remnant do you think you’re doing??”

            Neo exhaled and for the moment forgot how to let the oxygen back out, her breath catching in her throat and her heart sinking as she heard this new voice that was not familiar to her at all. Its tone was sharp and biting in all the ways that Yang and Ruby’s voices had been anything but. This must have been one of their other housemates that Yang had mentioned during the drive here from the store. Why did she sound so angry? What had she done wrong?

            “Excuse me, I asked you a question! Yang? Ruby? Don’t just ignore me!”

            What should she do? What _could_ she do? Neo was extremely limited in her options considering the confined space of the shower that she was restricted to, with only a curtain hanging up on a metal rod to separate her from the clearly peeved girl on the other side who was demanding an explanation from her, wholly unaware that she was not one of the friends whom she assumed was making use of the shower at this time. There was no place for her to run or hide, and at once she was gripped by an aura of fear that she was all too accustomed to by now; frozen in place and unable to defend herself from the hostilities being levied in her direction.

            “Well fine, if you’re going to be so immature about it then you leave me with no choice!”

            What did that mean? What was this new girl going to do? Neo now felt the need to act in some manner, especially once she started to hear footsteps stomping closer and closer towards the shower. Tentatively she reached a hand out towards the curtain with the thought of pulling it back so that she could poke her head out and show herself, but she realized that would likely only cause further confusion and distress for the already irritated girl to discover a total stranger in her bathroom this late at night. Neo retracted her fingers and shied away from the curtain, but it mattered not as only a second later the drapery was grabbed onto and yanked open from the other side.

 

* * *

 

 

            A loud, prolonged slurping sound followed by a heavy sigh of satisfaction signaled that Ruby was indeed pleased by the hot chocolate that was now traveling down her esophagus and warming up her pajama-clad body from the inside out.

            “Aaahhhh, that’s the stuff. Excellent job as always, Yang. Nobody handles hot chocolate mix in the kitchen like you do.” Ruby commented with a smile and a tilt of her head towards her older sister, playfully ribbing her as of course it could hardly be more simple to follow the instructions printed on the canister that the mixture came in. Still, Yang would always make the hot chocolate when they were kids, so there was at least some legitimate appreciation in Ruby’s words.

            “Hey, that’s not the only thing I’ve been told I handle better than anyone else, if you catch my drift.” Yang came back with a smirk and suggestive wink as she cleaned up the countertop. Ruby in response let out a particular groan which conveyed just how grossed out she was by what her big sis was implying, to which Yang couldn’t help but laugh at Ruby’s still intact sexual innocence.

            “So, what are we going to tell Weiss and Blake tomorrow when they find out we’re letting Neo stay here with us for now?” Ruby asked as she took another sip from her personal black mug decorated with a pattern of red rose petals, happy to change the subject to anything else and figuring that the topic of their new houseguest would be as pertinent as any.

            “I don’t know, just the truth I guess. I’m sure that Blake will understand once she hears about just how bad off Neo was in the alley and the snow; she’s a softie like that. And Weiss…well, I’m sure that Weiss will come around to it if we give her a little time to get used to it.” Yang replied feeling quite confident about her assessment on Blake, and more hopeful than anything else regarding her assessment on their friend: the notorious ice queen.

            “Yang, I’m your sister, and how many months did it take for Weiss to finally admit that she and I were friends?” Ruby was decidedly more worried about Weiss being less than hospitable towards Neo at a time when it definitely seemed like the girl with the colorful hair could use all the hospitality and affection that she could get.

            “Yeah, but that’s only because you kept opening your mouth around her all the time and you couldn’t stop all these words from coming out. From what I know about Neo so far, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a problem with her.” Yang teased, prompting Ruby to stick her tongue out at her older sister who was happy to reciprocate before both girls busted out into a giggle fit. However, as their laughter gradually died down, they both heard a bit of commotion coming from upstairs.

            “Hey, did that sound like…” Yang trailed off once the gears clicked into place in her head. “Oh no!!! Weiss!! Wait!!” She then exclaimed before racing out of the kitchen and bounding up the steps to spot the open doorway to the bathroom, just in time to hear Weiss let out a cry of shock as the white-haired girl pulled back the curtain and discovered someone that she had never seen before in her life was in their house and using their shower.

            The alarmed blonde rushed the remainder of the way into the bathroom just in time to see Neo jerk the curtain back the other way in order to cover up her nudity, leaving only her head visible and a mortified expression on her face as her ghostly white eyes flickered over to Yang; momentarily pleading for help before ducking herself fully back behind the curtain and leaving Weiss to turn and face the newest occupant of the bathroom looking extremely bewildered.

            “Yang? Who is she? What is she doing in our shower??” Weiss asked just as invested in seeking answers as Ruby was when she first saw Neo walk in through the front door with Yang, although being much more blunt about it than the younger freshman had been. For her part, Yang was reluctant to have this whole conversation while standing right in the middle of the bathroom and knowing that Neo was literally hiding herself on the other side of the shower curtain, which is why she motioned for Weiss to follow her back out into the hallway. The ice queen glanced back towards the shower briefly, but acquiesced to Yang’s request and proceeded to make her exit.

            “I’ll be right back in a few minutes with those clothes I promised you Neo!” Yang called as she grabbed onto the doorknob and lingered for a second, hoping for some kind of cue or response and frowning a bit when she received none. It wasn’t until Neo finally heard the door to the bathroom shut once more that she let out all the breath she had been holding in, leaning her back up against the narrow back wall of the shower opposite the head and slowly slumping down into a seated position from her panic.

            Meanwhile Weiss let out her own exasperated sigh as she and Yang now stood together in the upstairs hallway, both of them catching notice of the soft footsteps that were approaching and both of them casting their eyes towards the source to find Ruby standing midway up the steps with a look of concern on her adorable face.

            “Is everything okay?” She asked with disquiet in her voice, hoping that this wasn’t about to become a fight between her sister and her close friend. Ruby hated it whenever there was arguing in the house, or between any of her friends, and she felt so bad for Neo that she loathed the thought of the homeless girl being responsible for any conflict between them.

            “Yeah Rubes, everything’s fine. Weiss just walked in on Neo in the shower and…”

            “I just wasn’t expecting to find…her…in there. I thought it was one of you two, so I was a little shaken up. That’s all.” Weiss finished with a soft smile that made Ruby much more relaxed now with the knowledge that the Atlesian girl wasn’t mad at Yang or anybody else.

            “That’s a relief. How about I go and pick out some old clothes for Neo to wear? My stuff will fit her a lot better than yours will anyway.” The dark-haired girl offered as she climbed up the rest of the steps, receiving a thank you from Yang as she passed by the two and headed into the bedroom she shared with her older sister at the other end of the hallway.

            It wasn’t until Weiss cleared her throat that Yang was reminded she still had some explaining to do.

            “Alright, so, Ruby got me to go run to the store because she wanted hot chocolate, and while I was there I found Neo.” Yang began with a gesture towards the closed bathroom door to indicate that Neo was the name of the girl that Weiss had walked in on; something that Weiss had already picked up by now after hearing Yang and Ruby both mention her by name multiple times. “She was outside in the alley, sitting in a box, looking like she was going to freeze to death. She told me that she didn’t have anywhere else to go…so I told her she could stay here for now.”

            Weiss rubbed her temples with her thumb and index finger for a couple of moments after listening to Yang give her the details, exhaling again at learning that at least for the near future she’d be having a fourth housemate in addition to her three best friends.

            “You’re not mad…are you?”

            “No you dunce. How could you think I would be mad about this?” Weiss answered with a small smirk, this time being the one to put Yang at ease. “It might have been nice to receive some knowledge about this ahead of time, but considering the circumstances I suppose you didn’t have much of a choice. Either way, you did the right thing Yang.”

            “Phew! Thanks Weiss! Honestly I wasn’t sure how you were going to react. Glad to see that your heart hasn’t frozen over completely just yet.” Yang joked with her own effervescent smirk that Weiss guessed she probably should have seen coming. Same goes for the playful punch that she felt upon her upper arm from the strong and heavy-handed blonde.

            “I’m not incapable of sympathy! Just not for idiots!” Weiss retorted as she rubbed the somewhat sore spot on her arm, which just so happened to remind her of what else she had seen in that brief period of time between when she first pulled back the shower curtain and when Neo had overcome her own surprise to wrest it back into place. “Yang…if by chance anyone comes looking for her, we probably shouldn’t let them know we have her here.”

            “Huh? How come?” Yang wasn’t exactly sure what Weiss was getting at. Obviously Neo had been through a lot to end up where she was when she found her, but if someone was trying to find her then surely it would be someone who deeply cared about her, right?

            “When I pulled the curtain and I saw her…I noticed that she had a bruise. It was sizable, and right below her ribs; the kind of place where it’s rather difficult to get a bruise accidentally.” Weiss tried explaining in the most delicate way that she could, hoping that Yang would understand what she was trying to convey without having to come right out and say that Neo was almost certainly the victim of physical abuse wherever she was before she ran away. The solemn look that overtook Yang’s features indicated to Weiss that she had.

            “What kind of monster would do that?” Yang asked rhetorically as her fists automatically clenched at her sides, part of her wishing that whoever it was that had abused Neo would try to pick a fight with someone their own size. Her stance was softened however when she felt a porcelain hand placed upon her shoulder, and she picked her head back up to find Weiss right in front of her.

            “What matters now is that that person can’t put their hands on Neo anymore. She’ll be safe here. We’ll make sure of that.” Weiss smiled with warmth and causing Yang to do the same in their agreement that they were all responsible for giving Neo the home that she may have never had before. Soon enough the two girls found themselves wrapped up in a tight, friendly embrace and an unspoken mutual appreciation between them.

            An embrace that Ruby was all too eager to join in on as she bolted out from the bedroom and flung her arms around the other two girls, all three of them devolving into laughter at the youngest one’s exuberance. Ruby may have hated arguments, but boy did she love group hugs.

 

* * *

 

 

            The sun had barely begun to rise when the next train pulled into the station and all of its passengers emerged from the various cars now that they had arrived at their intended destination – the city of Vale.

            Among them was a girl in her early-twenties who possessed a particular set of skills, and carried a reputation for being able to find things that had been lost. Her services were by no means cheap, but her results spoke for themselves. If you had the lien, you would soon be reunited with whatever prized possession you had been separated from. Her occupation was exactly what had brought her here to the coastal college town of Vale this time.

            She had to admit, this job hadn’t gone as smoothly as most of her others usually do. For the past two weeks, she had been traveling from city to city on the trail of her target; getting closer each time but each time unable to tie the noose around the neck of the one she was tracking. She was beginning to grow irritated at this one’s unusual amount of ingenuity; despite how much she could enjoy a challenge, every day she was out on this job meant more money being lost from other potential clients that she didn’t have the time to entertain.

            “Excuse me Miss, do you need directions?” An elderly man dressed in the uniform of a station employee asked her with a friendly smile that she returned in kind.

            “No thank you! I’ve been here on business before, I know my way around.”

            It wasn’t a lie either. Vale was a notable enough place that she’d been brought out here for work a few times in the past. The university and the shipyards provided plenty of opportunities for people to start their lives anew and try to escape their pasts. She had made some contacts here and she planned on putting them to good use as soon as she got situated. She could feel something in the air as she walked through the bustle of people gathered in the train station; a certain sixth sense which told her that there would be no more trains to take except the one back home after this job was done.

            Emerald Sustrai was certain now that Vale would be the place where she finally found what she had been hired to seek out, and she was certain that this was the place where she would finally lay claim to that elusive Neapolitan trophy that had been just out of her grasp.


	3. Integration

           Blurs and colors gradually formed into distinct shapes and objects as Neo returned to the waking world after enjoying the first truly peaceful slumber that she’d had in weeks. It had been so long that she had almost forgotten how wondrous it was to sleep in an actual bed with a roof over her head and with clean nightclothes to wear. Ruby had lent her some of hers for the night; consisting of a brown tee shirt with the words “SIGNAL HIGH” spelled out across the front in gold lettering, and a pair of black pajama pants with a red polka dot pattern decorating the flannel fabric.

            Speaking of the thankfully similar-in-size girl, Neo’s still sleepy and currently brown eyes wandered across to where Ruby was still sound asleep in her own bed; a very light snoring emanating from her as she lay beneath the covers. Yang had absolutely insisted that Neo take her bed for the night and that she would sleep on the couch downstairs in the living room, and despite her initial protests the mute houseguest quickly became aware that her adamant blonde rescuer would not be taking no for an answer.

            Being as quiet as she could – something which came rather naturally to her – Neo slipped out from underneath the covers of Yang’s comfy bed and placed the soles of her bare feet onto the carpet. She raised her arms up above her head and got up onto the balls of her feet to stretch all the way out, a couple little pops in her back indicating the effectiveness of her stretching before she finished with a satisfied sigh. Now that that was done, she noticed that she was feeling a bit parched, and so she made her way over to the bedroom door and pulled it open with care so as not to disturb Ruby, doing the same to pull it back shut once she was out in the upstairs hallway.

            She only made it a couple of steps before her sense of smell was assaulted by an absolutely wonderful aroma coming from the floor down below. It was something that she had no chance of being able to resist, almost as if she was being drawn towards the source but with a smile on her face as she began to descend the stairs. Every step further down only increased the potency of what was wafting continuously into her nostrils, and she very nearly jogged the last few that finally led her right to the dining room and adjacent kitchen.

            Neo was not disappointed either by what she found when she finally arrived. Standing there at the stove was Yang, who was currently presiding over a pan of sizzling bacon which undoubtedly served as the intoxicating odor which had lured the much smaller girl down here. Yang’s wild mane of blonde hair that was still slightly frazzled from her sleep perked up along with the rest of her head once she heard gentle footsteps approaching, and she lit up with an exuberant smile once she saw that it was Neo who had joined her.

            “Good morning Neo! Hope you like pancakes and bacon, ‘cause that’s what’s on the menu!”  She announced for an enthusiastic greeting, motioning to the serving plate on the counter to her side where Neo spotted a large stack of golden-brown pancakes just waiting to be devoured. Truthfully, it had been so long since Neo had eaten a home-cooked meal that just about anything would have done the trick, but to her this was practically a feast fit for royalty!

            Of course, Yang had made sure to get up earlier than usual this morning specifically so that she could prepare a hearty breakfast for their new houseguest whom she figured was just barely fending off malnourishment by this point. She was going to fix something up for Neo to enjoy last night after she’d finished her shower, but the poor girl was so exhausted that she could barely keep her eyes open; leading Yang to postpone the meal until tomorrow and instead simply send the girl to a warm and cozy bed.

            Neo’s eyes were now a brilliant shade of shining pink as she excitedly nodded to convey that this was a more than delightful choice for the first meal of the day.

 

* * *

 

 

            Orange juice flowed out as Yang poured it from the carton, filling up Neo’s glass. The silent girl was sitting at the dining table now with no small amount of eagerness, mouth practically watering thanks to the plate set in front of her consisting of two crispy strips of bacon and one large pancake smothered in maple syrup. Appropriately, her stomach let out a rumbling growl now that it was so helpfully reminded just how famished it was for true sustenance, rather than the scraps and leftovers that she’d surviving during her time as a runaway.

            “There you go! Anything else I can getcha?” Yang inquired with her seemingly ever-present luminescent smile still in place, the chef of this particular meal being elated by just how much Neo herself appeared to be elated at what had more or less been prepared specially for her. Yang had made sure to cook up enough for everyone, but this would be Neo’s to enjoy more than anything else.

            The twintails that Neo had tied her multicolored hair into with a couple of simple hair bands – lent to her by Yang – swayed from side to side as she shook her head to express that she was more than content with everything that the more statuesque and shapely woman had already provided for her. Truthfully she couldn’t think of anything that was missing, but even if she could there’d be no way she could possibly let it be known at the risk of seeming ungrateful when Yang had gone to such lengths for her; not just with breakfast but for allowing her to take refuge in her home when she knew nothing about her or her situation. Then again, if Yang did know more about how she had ended up in that alley, Neo highly doubted that she’d have shown her the same kindness.

            A distraction from these thoughts came in the form of yet another feminine figure entering into view while descending the stairs. Neo almost immediately tensed up at the sight of this new person; her irises momentarily flickering to white before returning to a chocolatey brown shade as she reminded herself that this was one of Yang’s friends and that she shouldn’t have anything to fear. Even the white-haired girl she had met last night had apologized to her about the shower incident and explained it as a total misunderstanding.

            “Blake! You’re just in time for the complimentary continental breakfast! Grab a seat!” Yang greeted her energetically, which seemed to amuse the raven-haired girl judging from the small smirk that took form on her soft lips as she took stock of the dining room.

            “I can see that. What I’m more curious about is since when did you decide to start playing housewife?” The new girl, evidently named Blake, responded in a fashion which led Neo to infer that this behavior was out of the ordinary for Yang, which in turn caused her to blush just a bit at the idea of the fair-haired girl putting in so much effort just to make her feel welcomed and at home here.

            “Hey, I can make myself useful around here every once in a while!” Came Yang’s still somewhat tongue-in-cheek retort, knowing that trying to claim anything more than “once in a while” would make for an argument that even she couldn’t defend.

            “Oh I’m aware of that. It’s just that it’s a Saturday and I’m not usually used to seeing you awake before noon, let alone presiding over a pretty good looking breakfast if I do say so myself.” Blake remarked as she made it to the bottom of the steps and inhaled deeply to revel in the ever-pleasant scent of pancakes and bacon that still filled the air. Meanwhile Neo could have sworn that she saw the tidy black bow perched atop Blake’s head move slightly, but she tossed those thoughts aside and chalked it up to her still being a little on the sleepy side; enough for her eyes to be playing tricks on her.

            “Well since you at least realize that I’m a pretty damn good cook, I guess I’ll let you off the hook this time.” Yang grumbled as she crossed her arms over her well-endowed chest, but with enough of a smirk on her lips to give away that she was hardly offended by the comments of her compadre. “Go ahead and sit; I’ll put a plate together for you too!”

            And with that, Yang departed back into the kitchen, leaving Neo alone with this new girl whom she was still trying to get a feel for. One thing that was striking about her just from a moment’s observation was the graceful beauty that she carried with her. It was obvious from her well-sculpted figure which seemed to balance curvature and muscle tone in a perfect picture of femininity, but it was in the smaller things as well. It was the sparkle of her amber eyes, and the pitch dark of her long and flowing locks that were still slightly damp from the shower that Neo surmised she had just exited from before venturing down here.

            “So, you must be Neo.” The words caught the girl being addressed off guard and she blushed again at the realization that she had probably been staring at Blake without even being aware of it. Averting her gaze she nodded while Blake pulled out a chair at the simple rectangular, wooden table and sat down at one of the sides adjacent to Neo’s. “Weiss caught me up to speed on things last night after your introduction in the bathroom. My name is Blake; it’s nice to meet you.” She said to acquaint herself with – at least for the time being – her new housemate. Neo looked back up to find an affable and honest smile on Blake’s lips; one which put her more at ease and even got her to give a small grin back as she nodded twice more to express that the feeling was mutual.

            Neo found herself feeling much better when Yang reentered the room carrying another plate of hot and fresh breakfast food on her open palm like a waitress would. Even though the two of them had only known each other for barely even twelve hours by now, Neo could sense that Yang truly cared about her and wanted her to be taken care of, which was something that Neo hadn’t had in her life for some time now. The other ladies who lived here had all been friendly and kind, but if it wasn’t for Yang’s compassion then she would still be freezing away in a dingy alley sleeping inside of a cardboard box.

            All of this…it all just felt so right. The lovingly prepared meal that was in front of her, the genuine atmosphere of family that existed between Yang and her friends…it was enough to make Neo internally fill up with joy. For the first time in years she wasn’t living in fear. She didn’t just feel like an object to be owned by someone else to do with as they please. She felt like she belonged somewhere. She felt like she was safe.

            She felt like she was home.

 

* * *

 

 

            “He’s right behind that corner! Don’t go in there! He’s probably just—no!!”

            Ruby flopped backwards with exasperation onto the floor where she was sitting cross-legged. She was wearing a headset with a microphone, and clutched in one of her hands was a wireless controller for the latest gaming console to hit the market. The screen on the television in front of her tinted gray as it informed her that her team had been defeated and that the game was now over.

            “S-Sorry Ruby, I thought that I could take him…” Meekly came the apology through the speaker in her headset, the voice belonging to one of her fellow freshman and best friends at Beacon University.

            “It’s okay Jaune.” She replied with a sigh as she picked herself back up into a seated and ready position, rolling her head from one side to the other and reveling in the audible cracks which came from her neck from her doing so. “Just make up for it by claiming vengeance in the next round!” She cried full of determination and bloodlust, the smirk on her face practically saying it all for her as she queued her and Jaune up for a new match in their favorite first-person shooter.

            “Right…uhh, anyway, what were you saying about this girl that’s living with you now?” He asked with curiosity as Ruby had been telling him about the situation prior to his untimely demise in the previous round.

            “Oh yeah! So her name is Neo and she doesn’t really talk…like at all. It’s cool though because she’s really good at telling you stuff without speaking.” Ruby resumed now that her focus had been brought back to the discussion that they were having beforehand.

            “You mean like, sign language?”

            “Umm…not really. At least I’m pretty sure it isn’t.” Ruby paused and wondered if Neo even knew any sign language, considering that they knew she wasn’t deaf. “But like…I don’t know, I guess it’s hard to explain. You should come over and meet her! Then you’d totally get it.”

            “Can’t today, I’ve got work later and I don’t get off ‘til ten.”

            “What about tomorrow? Actually, what if we—“ Ruby started to respond only to stop short upon hearing a light rapping upon the door of her bedroom. It had basically been made a house rule that Ruby had to keep the door shut whenever she was playing video games due to just how excitable it could make her. “Hang on Jaune, I’ll be right back!”

            Ignoring her friend’s inquiries as to where she was going, Ruby discarded her headset and placed her controller on the floor so that she could hop up and answer the door. Her suspicions as to who it could be were confirmed when she pulled it open and found Neo standing there wearing a small smile but still looking a little bashful for interrupting. She was also still wearing the clothing that Ruby had lent her as pajamas, which flipped a switch in the silver-eyed girl’s head and reminded her of something she probably should have made mention of sooner.

            “Oh! Neo! Perfect, you’re just the person that I wanted to see!” She exclaimed, taking the mute girl by a fair bit of surprise since she was the one who came up here in the first place, but cocking her head to the side curiously as her way of telling Ruby to go on. “Weiss sent me a text a little earlier. She wanted me to tell you that since you’re going to be living here for now, we needed to get you your own things. That’s why she’s taking you shopping for clothes once she gets back from work!” Ruby clarified with a beaming grin while Neo was left not knowing what to say.

            Well, even more so than usual.

            Weiss wanted to take her out and help her shop for new clothes? The same white-haired girl from last night with such a prickly demeanor? Sure, she had apologized for her behavior after Neo had finished her shower, but the silent new resident of the house certainly wasn’t expecting this level of kindness or generosity from her. Then again, she knew from personal experience that first impressions aren’t all that they’re cracked up to be, so perhaps she had misjudged the icy vixen after all.

            Either way, Neo gave a firm nod to express that she found this plan to be very agreeable, and the flash of her pearly white teeth from the smile that she gave made it clear just how excited she was for the impending shopping excursion. This in turn made Ruby squeal with delight as she was so happy to see Neo adjusting to things here so well.

            “Great! I’ll text Weiss back and let her know that you can’t wait!” The younger girl proclaimed before rushing back into the bedroom to grab her cell phone and begin typing out her missive, until pausing a couple words in as she remembered that Neo was the one who had come to see her and not the other way around. “Oh, uhh, sorry, did you need something Neo?” Ruby asked, feeling a bit embarrassed at getting so caught up in her own zeal.

            In response, Neo took a couple steps into the room herself and sheepishly reached down to grab onto the hem of the old shirt from Ruby’s high school that she’d been given to sleep in, stretching it out and looking towards the garment’s original owner for some assistance with what she was hoping for. It took a second or two of gears turning in her head, but Ruby did figure out what it was that Neo was asking her for.

            “Oh! Of course! Especially if you’re going to be going out later. Can’t really expect you to go to the mall in pajamas, can we?” Ruby giggled as she finished sending her text to Weiss before hopping over and throwing open the folding doors to the closet; a space which she shared with her older sister, which was evident from the drastic difference in style between the clothing on the left side and the clothing on the right. Even in the short time she had known the girls who lived here, Neo felt confident enough to guess that the scant piece of yellow fabric masquerading as a tube top was not something that belonged to Ruby.

 

* * *

 

 

             “Haven’t you ever heard about patience being a virtue?”

            Emerald pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers trying to keep her cool as she sat on a park bench with her scroll held up to her ear in her other hand. She had only been in Vale for a few hours, but already she had received another call from him demanding an update on her progress. Honestly, she was good, but she wasn’t a damn magician.

            “I’ve already been ‘patient’ for the past two weeks! I’m paying you good lien for you to take care of this problem for me, so excuse me if I’m not in much of a mood to hear your excuses at the moment!” Came the rebuttal from the man she was speaking to; the client who had hired her for this particular job to make use of her particular set of skills.

            “I promised that you would get what you wanted. I never promised you a timetable for it.” She wasn’t about to let herself be walked all over, even if she could admit that she wanted this job to be over with just as much as her irate patron did. “Besides, it’s not like you have any other choices. You know there’s nobody more suited to tracking her down than I am, and firing me now would just make it even more difficult for you to ever find her.”

            She felt a sense of satisfaction at the brief silence that followed on the other end of the line; the knowledge of her statement being unassailable fact evident to both parties involved here.

            “Just bring her back to me, Sustrai. And don’t rough her up too much either. There’ll plenty of that waiting for her once she gets back home.” A small chuckle followed which made Emerald feel uneasy, but not as much as she was made to feel thankful when her scroll chimed and let her know that the call had been disconnected. She pulled it away from her head and took a glance at the screen. Ugh. Just seeing the words “Roman Torchwick” was enough to make her grimace.

            The mint-haired girl shut the device and slipped it back into her pocket as she rose from her seat on the wooden bench and started moving; feet crunching through the thin layer of snow spread upon the cobblestone pathway. It wasn’t her obligation to care about what happened to the people she tracked down after she brought them back, but more often than not she surmised that they likely would just end up dead. After all, she knew the type of clientele that she tended to attract. This time however, it seemed pretty clear that the girl she was chasing – the girl named Neo – was far too precious to Roman to ever be gotten rid of like that; but Emerald could imagine that the fate which awaited her would carry its own unique amount of unpleasantness.

            There may have been a part of her that felt bad for her assigned target, but then again Roman had told Emerald enough about her that she knew Neo was far from someone that should be described as innocent. She might look the part given her miniature-sized frame, but everyone knows that appearances can be deceiving, and that criminals can come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. Emerald supposed that it probably even worked in her favor on the night that she crossed that line forever. Tiny, pretty, mute; ordinarily this would sound like the description for a perfect victim. Roman had made sure that Emerald knew better though; he had made sure that she was aware of the truth.

            Neo was not merely a little lamb who needed to be returned to her concerned shepherd, but rather she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing whom one needed to be cautious around at all times. Emerald specifically recalled him using the analogy about the lamb and the wolf and how it made her roll her eyes from just how dramatic it was, but the point of it had stuck with her and she now knew just what kind of person she was dealing with in Neo. She was dealing with someone dangerous, someone who would not hesitate to take Emerald’s life if need be.

            For what would one more life be when little Neo had already brought an end to two others before?


	4. Ramification

            To say that Neo felt overwhelmed by everything that she was being presented with would be a good candidate for quite possibly being the understatement of the year.

            When she had been informed that Weiss had wanted to take her out to the mall in downtown Vale to help her shop for some new clothes, she had already been blown away by being on the receiving end of such kindness and generosity; especially after the inauspicious start that the two of them had gotten off to the night before with the shower incident. When Weiss proceeded to escort Neo through the sprawling shopping complex to one of the more trendy clothing boutiques, she wondered if it was really okay for her to be accepting this. Ruby had told her that Weiss was actually one of the daughters in an extremely wealthy family, but Neo still felt that this was far too much to be spending on someone like her; in terms of both attention and money.

            But this…well, Neo wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to react to this.

            “Well? Which one do you prefer the most, Neo??” Weiss held in each of her hands a hanger; one which was holding up a slinky-looking silver halter top and another doing the same for a pair of tight-fitting black pants. Flanking the young heiress on either side were two attendants employed by the boutique, who apparently are familiar enough with Weiss to be on a first-name basis with her from how often she must visit the shop, and both of the attendants likewise were displaying a handpicked outfit for Neo to evaluate with her currently whitish-pink eyes.

            Her gaze flitted back and forth between each one of the ensembles, but no matter how much she looked them over she found it near impossible to choose one over the others. All three of her options looked so appealing, yet at the same time intimidating; not to mention that she was still far from comfortable with Weiss purchasing clothing this expensive for her in the first place. Being the center of attention was also not on Neo’s list of favorite things, which only made her all the more nervous at this present time and more difficult for her to come to a decision.

            The last thing that Neo wanted was for them to start getting impatient with her though, so ultimately she lifted up one of her hands and pointed to the attire that Weiss had selected to make her choice known. The white-haired girl promptly flaunted a satisfied smile.

            “I had a feeling that you and I would see eye-to-eye on matters as important as these. I can just tell when a woman knows good fashion.” Weiss said as she handed over both of the hangers she had been holding on to over to Neo. “Reese, Arslan, keep those other outfits on standby though; I still want her to try them all on.” She added as the green-haired attendant and her platinum blonde counterpart both nodded before leaving their two customers on their own, resuming their normal work duties.

            “Alright, now all you need to do is enter the changing room and try it on for yourself. In the meantime, I will be out here taking another look around. I’m certain that there will be more pieces I can find that will suit you just nicely.” Weiss had already begun walking away on her mission to peruse the boutique and see what other articles of clothing she could gather for Neo to pass judgment on, leaving the silent girl standing there by herself feeling awkward and out of place. She knew that she probably couldn’t even afford the cheapest things in this store, and while she was sincerely grateful for Weiss’s willingness to bring her here to acquire some desperately needed new clothing that she could call her own, Neo felt embarrassed for having to make the well-financed girl foot the bill for everything.

            When she ran away, she hadn’t had much money on her. She made sure she had enough lien to afford a train ticket out of town, and what she had leftover was only good for a couple of nights at a cheap motel. With no one that she could turn to for assistance, she had to resort to less than ethical means just to scrounge up enough cash to get herself from one day to the next. Fortunately, she possessed some skill when it came to picking locks, and so under the cover of night she’d go around breaking into vending machines to grab what she could and put it towards food and shelter. Neo wasn’t going to steal from people, but since they had already given away their money for a beverage or a snack, it made it a little easier for her to swallow what she was doing.

            Of course, she wasn’t just going to be able to live that way forever, but change was forced upon her abruptly and far sooner than she had anticipated.

            It was early in the morning and Neo was on her way to pay for another night of lodging at the motel. The rooms were separated from the lobby, so you had to walk across the parking lot to get to and from the main building and the residences. The main building also had the aesthetic feature of a front wall made out of glass panels that you could see through, and fortuitously it was also the very reason that the runt-sized runaway was likely able to prolong her abscondence.

            As Neo was walking up towards the doors, she stopped dead in her tracks when she peered through the transparent wall and spotted an unmistakable figure within. Standing there in the lobby, at the front desk seemingly waiting to be attended to, was a green-haired woman whom she had seen on several different occasions prior to this one; when she would meet with _him_. She knew that the woman’s name was Emerald, and she also knew instantly that if she was here then that meant she was searching for someone – searching for her.

            There couldn’t be any doubt. Roman had hired Emerald to find her and bring her back home. In that moment, it felt to Neo as if somebody had dropped a hunk of cold steel into her stomach. Her legs somehow felt simultaneously like rubber and heavy underneath her. She was totally captivated by fear, but it struck her that there was still hope. As it stood, Emerald hadn’t spotted her yet. She still had a chance to make a break for it and run in the search of safety.

            And run she did.

            Neo bolted on the spot and made a mad dash to head once more to the train station. If she was lucky, she thought that she might be able to put enough distance between herself and Emerald to make the trail run cold. And if not, there was no chance that she was going to let herself be taken without a fight. She was determined not to ever go back there, and the multi-colored mute was willing to do whatever was absolutely necessary to ensure her sustained freedom.

            Once Neo had actually made it to the train station, she took the money that she was going to use to pay for another night’s rent at the motel and bought a ticket on the next ride out of town. The location didn’t even matter, as long as she wasn’t anywhere near Emerald and she could put as many miles as possible between them.

            A sharp knocking upon the door to the changing room snapped Neo back to reality and separated her consciousness from the memories that she had been reliving in her head for the past few minutes.

            “Neo? What in Remnant is taking you so long?” Weiss’s voice rang out through the door as she wondered what could possibly be taking her companion so long to swap outfits. A moment or so later, a pair of small taps against the door from the opposite side was all that Weiss received as a response, which she wasn’t exactly sure what to do with. “I’m…going to go ahead and assume that means you’re almost finished. I’ll just be waiting right out here.” She ended up saying while just hoping that two light taps wasn’t somehow code for some sort of emergency.

            Meanwhile Neo breathed a small sigh, disappointed in herself for getting so caught up in some of the events that had transpired over the last couple of weeks that she momentarily detached from reality. She hadn’t even started to change yet into the outfit provided for her by Weiss, so she worked quickly to get undressed and slip into the stylish and trendy clothes, taking a momentary pause only when she glanced into the full-body mirror on the wall and caught a glimpse of the fading brownish-yellow splotch on her abdomen. The bruised girl quickly shook away those memories however before they could overtake her, not needing any further reminders of the life she lived before she fled.

            After just about a minute or two of idly browsing the nearby racks, Weiss finally heard the clicking of the doorknob and turned her attention back to the changing room from which Neo was emerging, now fully decked out in clothing that was sure to make her the envy of any fashion-conscious young woman in the city. She pulled the look off so well too that it brought a tiny smirk of accomplishment to Weiss’s thin lips for being the one who put the ensemble together for the mute girl in the first place.

            “Oh, it looks absolutely perfect on you; just like I imagined it! You’re positively gorgeous!” Weiss fawned while Neo blushed and looked the other way with a sheepish smile, rubbing the bare skin of her upper arm with her opposite hand and not exactly knowing how to take such a compliment. The only other person who had ever talked about her like that was him, but his words only ended up being sugar-coated nothingness to draw her into his web.

            “Come on; give me a spin so I can see how it looks on you from every angle.” Weiss instructed and to which Neo obliged, admittedly in a rather stiff manner of doing so. She had never been asked to model anything before, and she was still feeling embarrassed by the heiress’s flattery, so her movements were not as graceful as they perhaps otherwise could have been. Personally, Weiss found Neo’s nervousness to be quite adorable, and had to put her hand up to her mouth to hide a small giggle as she watched the even smaller girl give her best awkward flourish. “Alright, I think we can safely say that we’ll be purchasing this outfit. We’ll find a nice pair of heels to go with it too. For now, back in the changing room; you still have plenty more to try on!”

            Weiss was clearly enjoying this, while Neo for her part found herself playing the part of the semi-reluctant accomplice. She was undoubtedly appreciative of what the wealthy daughter of the Schnee family was doing for her and she had no idea of how she would ever be able to repay this debt, but she was certain that this was far too much to be spending on her in terms of time, attention, and especially money. Still, Weiss wasn’t going to be taking no for an answer, so Neo knew that there was little use in trying to resist.

            Plus, even Neo had to admit, when she took another glance over towards the mirror, she thought she looked pretty damn cute too.

 

* * *

 

            A boy barely older than seventeen watched nervously as the moderately older man standing before him opened up the envelope that the aforementioned boy had just handed him, removing the wad of cash from inside and proceeding to count through each individual lien note contained within it.

            “I…I know it’s not all there but…it’s all that I’ve got.” He figured it would be better to address the shortage himself before the collector noticed it, since it would get found out either way. “I promise though, I’ll make up the difference with my next payment! Please…I’ve never been short before; cut me some slack this one time.” He hated having to plead for leniency like this, but it would be better for him in the long run to suck it up and do so until he could repay what he now owed next time.

            “I don’t know…boss doesn’t take too kindly to that sort of thing; says that it breeds weakness. Now, you wouldn’t want people thinking that the boss is weak, would you?” The silver-haired enforcer replied with a malevolent smirk while staring down at the boy he’d come to collect weekly payment from. Truly, he loved this part of his job.

            “N-No! Of course not, but—“

            “Then you understand that I can’t just let you off scot-free now, can I?”

            The boy stammered trying to come up with something that could change his mind, but before he could do so he found himself getting grabbed by the collar and thrown up against the brick wall of the alley where they were meeting. In this moment he deeply regretted not arranging for the transfer to take place in a more public setting.

            “P-Please Mercury, I’ll have the money!! Just…t-tell Cinder that—“

            His pleas gurgled into an outburst of pain as he felt one of Mercury’s knees plant itself forcefully into his gut, doubling him over and leaving him vulnerable to the kick to the side of the head that Mercury followed up with, sending the boy sprawling out onto the cement flooring of the alley.

            “Oh don’t worry; I’ll make sure to tell her how sorry you are. I just gotta make sure you really mean it first.” Mercury cracked his knuckles as he stood over the helpless teen, his smirk now twice as large as it was just a mere minute earlier before things had escalated. Cinder made no exceptions for failure, and Mercury’s primary role in her organization was to ensure that everyone knew what the consequences were not meeting the expectations that had been set for them. Generally, those who failed in their duties once were highly unlikely to fail a second time after meeting with said consequences. If they did, more punitive measures would be taken against them.

            These punitive measures guaranteed that there would be no third instance of failure.

 

* * *

 

            “Are you…sure that’s really a good idea?”

            “Yeah, even I’m not sure that you should really go through with that.”

            Blake and Yang respectively voiced their concerns, but the third member of their small party simply scoffed and dismissed those worries with a wave of her hand.

            “Don’t be silly!! This is what I get, like, all the time here!” Nora replied as she gestured back towards the abomination of a dessert that she had concocted. She’d been the one to invite the two housemates out for a meetup at a nearby frozen yogurt place; one which Nora happened to frequent quite often. At some point she felt that only having one or two flavors wasn’t enough to satisfy her palette, thus why on the table there was now a large bowl in front of her containing seven different flavors of frozen yogurt, not to even mention the similar number of distinctly different toppings sprinkled all over the allegedly edible mountain.

            “Besides, it only made me throw up later after like, the first four times I ate it. I just had to train my stomach and now it’s more than strong enough to handle it!” Somehow, this failed to reassure either of the other two girls, who had each decided upon a much more reserved mixture of flavors and toppings to satiate their appetites. “Hey, so how come Ruby didn’t come??” Nora then asked, her absence being somewhat peculiar considering the younger girl’s fondness for sweets.

            “Oh she was playing some game with Jaune when we left. Plus she said she wanted to be home when Neo got back. She had a feeling that she’d like some other company after spending an afternoon out with Weiss.” Blake responded with a smile that she shared with Yang while Nora audibly snickered. They all of course loved their Atlesian friend to death, but Weiss could still prove rather difficult to get along with when it came to people who didn’t already know her.

            “Hopefully she’s taking it easy on Neo. Someone like her, I can imagine having a rough time trying to keep up with Weiss when it comes to shopping.” Yang remarked before swallowing a spoonful of her strawberry banana yogurt, adorned with crushed up bits of chocolate cookie. Truthfully though she had faith in Weiss to exhibit the right amount of patience with her. She had been a little surprised when Weiss had let her know that she wanted to take Neo out and buy her some new clothes, but when she thought about it she realized that this was probably the best way that Weiss could think of to help Neo adjust to her new surroundings.

            “Is she staying with you guys for a while?” Nora’s question, while simple on its face, actually succeeded in giving both Yang and Blake momentary pause. Neither of them had given that much thought yet to the duration of Neo’s residency at their house, and the two girls exchanged a glance conveying their newly shared awareness of this as a point of discussion later.

            “Umm…I guess so? We haven’t actually had the chance to talk about it yet. Things have all been kind of crazy since last night.” Yang admitted with a weak smile, now starting to wonder how that conversation would eventually go when it was time to be had. Personally she would be more than fine with having Neo stay as long as she needed, and she was assuming that Ruby would be in the same boat. Would Weiss feel the same way though? And what about Blake? Her gaze lingered upon her Faunus friend with the knowledge sitting in the back of her mind that Blake could be notoriously slow to trust others. What if she didn’t actually want Neo around when admittedly they knew almost nothing about her past?

            “For now I think we’re mostly just focusing on helping her settle down. She’s been living on the street for a while it seems, so giving her a roof over her head and food in her stomach is a good place to start.” Blake added to which Yang agreed with a nod and slightly more reassured smile at her dark-haired friend’s compassion; and from what they both saw at breakfast earlier in the day, Neo was certainly grateful for the nourishment. For as small as she is, she put Yang’s cooking down with astonishing fervor.

            “Ooh! That’s a great idea! I’ll get Ren to whip up some pancakes and I’ll bring ‘em over as a gift!” Nora joyously exclaimed after being hit by such a stroke of genius which elicited laughter from both of her companions at the round table located outdoors in front of the frozen yogurt shop.

            “I’m sure Ren will be thrilled to hear that.”

            “Hey, he knows who wears the pants in this relationship!” Nora smirked in response to Blake’s quip, thought it not exactly being a secret that Nora calls the shots between the two of them while her more passive and stoic boyfriend is more or less along for the chaotically delightful ride.

            “Just let him know how much we appreciate his kindness.” Yang joked as the three girls all took a moment to get back to indulging in their sweet treats. Still, she couldn’t keep herself from worrying now. She couldn’t imagine telling Neo that she was going to have to leave, especially not after Weiss informed her of the bruising that she got a glimpse of when she accidentally walked in on the runaway during her shower. If Neo had been an abuse victim, how could she live with herself after kicking her out of possibly the only safe home she’d ever had?

            Yet there was still the other side of the coin that she was forced to acknowledge as well. What if there was something more unsavory to Neo’s story than she was assuming? Has Neo been manipulating her this whole time? She definitely wasn’t faking her malnourishment or anything else about the sorry state she was in when Yang had found her in the alley last night. Why was she even thinking about this as a possibility then? Yang attempted to shake it out of her thoughts, but apparently it had been showing on her face that she was conflicted internally about something.

            “Hey Yang, you alright?” Nora asked in a much more subdued fashion, concern for one of her best friends taking over as the unease painted across Yang’s features was as plain as day.

            “Huh? Yeah! I’m fine, just…a little tired. There’s been a lot going on after all.” The excuse sounded believable enough, Yang hoped, as she couldn’t let anyone figure out that she was having these kinds of thoughts about Neo. If they knew that she of all people was having even some minor questions about her, how could she possibly expect the rest of her friends and housemates to want to keep her around long-term?

            “Maybe you should take a break when we get back home. You’ve been doing so much to try to help make Neo comfortable that you’ve neglected yourself a little.” Blake suggested with a sympathetic smile towards the weary looking blonde. “I’ll even make you some tea and tuck you in for a nap.” She added trying to bring back a bit of a lighter atmosphere at the table, feeling relieved when Yang flashed her a sincere grin in response.

            “Well with that kind of offer, how could I possibly refuse?”

 

* * *

 

`           Mercury stretched his arms out behind his back as he emerged from the secluded alleyway, feeling an undeniable sense of satisfaction from a job well done and the wad of lien stuffed into his pocket – light as it may be in comparison to the amount he was supposed to collect. Ah well, as long as he still got paid he didn’t really give a damn. It was Cinder’s job to manage all of the questionable businesses that she oversees; all he has to do is remind transgressors of what happens when they wind up on Cinder’s bad side.

            He noticed a small stain of that kid’s blood on the toe of his right boot, and clicked his tongue with dissatisfaction as he tried to get rid of it by scuffing it on the sidewalk as he strode along it. Ordinarily he was pretty good about making sure he didn’t get hit with any unnecessary spatter; he supposed he must have gotten a little caught up in the moment this time.

            And then he stopped in his tracks as he picked his head back up and leered across the parking lot of the mall where he had come to pick up the revenue today. It was a fair bit of distance, but it would also be hard to mistake the prominent blend of colors being displayed in the hair of the girl that he spotted. Even more interestingly, she was walking with someone else – a white-haired girl who looked like the type he could pry a pretty good haul off of in a stick-up.

            He had to put those ideas aside for now however. This had to be the girl he’d been told to keep an eye out for. Apparently she was a pretty big deal to someone, though all he really knew was that Cinder said an associate of hers was searching for this pink-and-brunette-haired girl, and that whomever it was that found her would be rewarded quite handsomely. That was pretty much all the information that he needed.

            Keeping an eye on the pair of girls, he started to walk in the same direction as them from across the parking lot while scooping out his phone to quickly dial up his boss. It only took a couple seconds of ringing before he received an answer.

            “Mercury. I do hope things are going well on your rounds. Why have you called?” Even Mercury, black-hearted as he was, couldn’t ignore the slight chill that ran along his spine just from the sound of Cinder’s voice that carried such menace behind a veil of sweetness. She was perhaps the most feared underworld figure in Vale, and rightfully so.

            “Oh the rounds are fine, but I’ve got some interesting news for you. That tiny girl with the weird hair you said to watch out for? Pretty sure I just found her at the mall in the shopping district. She’s not alone either; some rich-looking girl is with her.” He relayed the information to Cinder and was met with silence for a brief moment before he got his new orders.

            “Well done. I want you to follow her for the time being. If she’s with someone else then there’s a good chance she’s found someplace to take shelter. Figure out where that might be.” She instructed with a smirk curled upon her sultry, red lips. Of all the people she had on the streets, the fact that it was her best enforcer who happened to stumble upon the girl was most pleasing to her.

            “And after I tail ‘em back to their place? Want me to grab her then?”

            “No. Don’t do anything reckless, or without my permission. She’s dangerous Mercury; it’ll be more prudent to do our due diligence first.”

            “Her? Dangerous? That pipsqueak?” Mercury wasn’t sure whether or not he was having his leg pulled, even while realizing that was hardly Cinder’s style.

            “Don’t be deceived by her appearance. She’s evaded capture for this long after all, does it not make sense that this is no amateur that we’re dealing with?”

            “Fair enough; I’ll check back in once I’ve got more details to give you.” He said holding back a sigh of disappointment at being kept on a leash, even if he understood his boss’s reasoning. Besides, if this girl really was as dangerous as she’s been made out to be, that only made him want to test her out for himself even more.

            “I’ll be waiting.” Cinder replied before ending the conversation on her end and immediately swiping through her list of contacts to make a call of her own. It was time to let Emerald know that her faith had not been misplaced.

 


End file.
